OREANDA-NEWS. May 05, 2014. China will increase its supply of natural gas to 400 billion cubic meters per year by 2020.

That’s the bottom line set by the country as the state’s planning agency eyes a target of 420 billion cubic meters.

China aims to use natural gas as an alternative to coal in an effort to reduce massive pollution and ease the country’s dependence on coal-fired power plants. Natural gas consumption, meanwhile, was expected to increase 14.5 percent this year from 2013.